


The Beauty of Storms

by fandomfix



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7333198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomfix/pseuds/fandomfix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>There were many things Starkiller had stolen that would probably never be replaced. Not that this bothered Hux. </i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Of course not. You can’t be bothered by something that wasn’t serious, can you?</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beauty of Storms

**Author's Note:**

> Someone on tumblr said something about how much they love kylux and rain imagery. I became randomly inspired.

It was pouring rain. Hux hadn’t even wanted to come to this miserable planet, and now he was stuck in the middle of nowhere and it was pouring rain.

He looked over to the clearing, where his companion on this blasted trip was sitting, supposedly meditating. Hux knew better though. He was sulking.

They were here because of Snoke. They were here because Snoke told Ren he couldn’t return to complete his training until he proved he was worth the effort. It was this same discussion where he told Hux to prove that his devotion to the First Order remained steady.

As if he was the reason Starkiller was gone. As if he had done anything other than exactly what Snoke had ordered him to do. As if he were expendable and Snoke could find someone else like him.

There were no others like him and Snoke knew it. Yet here he was, dragged along on this blasted mission of Ren’s looking for some artifact that he suspected was no longer here.

And Ren was sulking because he dared to tell him this. Dared to say that they were wasting their time and might as well return to the _Finalizer_.

“If you could _possibly_ make your thoughts quieter, General, I could finish here.”

Hux glared out into the clearing. Ren hadn’t even bothered to turn and look at him. He just sat on the ground as his robes and helmet became more and more water logged. Meanwhile Hux stood under the safety of a tree, watching the idiocy unfolding in front of him.

“My thoughts will be quieter when you stop trying to kill yourself to prove your worth. I assure you, you are doing nothing but proving to me why the Supreme Leader shouldn’t waste his time on you.”

No reaction. He hadn’t even tilted his head as he always used to when he was wearing that blasted helmet. That way Hux knew he was listening, even though he refused to take the damn thing off.

Although, Hux mused, there were many things that Kylo Ren used to do that he no longer did. There were many things Starkiller had stolen that would probably never be replaced. Not that this bothered Hux.

Of course not. You can’t be bothered by something that wasn’t serious, can you?

However this is getting ridiculous. The man is sitting on the ground while the sky floods down over him and he is doing nothing to try and keep himself dry. He is going to get himself sick and it will mean back to the medbay. This is something no one on the ship wants. He thinks there were celebrations when Ren was finally healed enough to move to his own quarters.

And this means he is going to have to go out there and get himself wet again as well. Something he had no interest in doing today. He has had quite enough of having to rescue Kylo Ren from forests to last him a lifetime. He has had quite enough of having to be there for Kylo Ren when he gets nothing in return.

Not that any of that matters and he needs to stop thinking about things in the past before the intrusive idiot in front of him picks up on those thoughts.

He strips out of the jacket he was wearing, as there in no point in getting all of his clothes wet like _some people,_ and strides forward. Coming to a stop, he peers down at the other man.

“How exactly is ‘meditating’ going to help you find something that we both know isn’t here? You are the height of stupidity some days Ren, but even you aren’t normally this bad.”

Ren doesn’t appear to move, but Hux knows that he has frozen up. This is another thing that has happened in the wake of Starkiller. Kylo is always tense when Hux gets too close. It is as if he expects Hux to attack him. And while that thought brings a pleasant smile to Hux’s face, it is also something he would never act on. There are too many things that would stop him. Snoke is one important reason.

There’s no need to think about the other reason.

Kylo doesn’t move out of position and Hux waits. His hair is falling into his face and there is water running down his cheekbones like tears. Rain that has been relentless since they arrived and Hux is beginning to think must be a staple of this planet. Do these plants ever see a sun? Have they formed some other way to gather their nutrients?

“I think you’ve finally gone insane, General.”

Hux comes back to himself, belatedly realizing that Ren was still listening in on his thoughts.

“Well,” he says, hoping his voice doesn’t give away his discomfort. “I’ve thought the same of you since the day we met, Ren. Perhaps I simply decided to finally join the group.”

A sound comes through the helmet that he suspects _might_ have been a chuckle. “I never took you as one who follows the pack.”

Hux turns away, the smirk that flashes across his face mostly hidden by the movement. When he glances back out of the corner of his eye, the helmet has shifted upward. He can only assume that Ren has finally deigned to look at him.

Is it really looking when there is a helmet blocking him from seeing those expressive eyes?

He continues, as if he hasn’t noticed that this is the first time since Starkiller that Ren has acted how he used to. As he did before orders and stress got in the way.

“Are you quite done here? I know you seem to think that meditating will help you find this artifact, but it _isn’t here_. Perhaps it existed on this planet at one time, but it doesn’t anymore. Not even the Force can change that. Let’s just _go_ , Ren. I am wet and annoyed and you look like you’re freezing.”

Ren’s head moves, once more looking away from Hux.

He hates this.

There had been a time when that face— _helmet or no helmet_ —always looked at him straight on. Never wavered, never backed down from a discussion with him. There was a time when Hux knew that if he pushed in just the right way, Ren would take the helmet off. And when that happened, it usually meant the argument would rapidly end and Hux would get pushed up against the nearest surface.

But that time has ended and he _doesn’t care because it wasn’t anything important to him._

It wasn’t as if he began to look forward to those private moments with Ren. Those moments where their heated arguments became a way of letting the other know what type of mood they were in. When those times they entered the others quarters meant they would strip away their roles. When “Ren” would become an—embarrassingly—soft “Kylo” and in turn he would hear the other man murmur “Hux” against his skin.

But that time has ended and even if he doesn’t understand _why_ he accepts it. Because it wasn’t important at all.

Sometimes he wishes Ren would catch those nostalgic thoughts that pass through his head now and again. Sometimes he wishes he would at least _tell_ Hux that they are definitively over…

Well, that’s not necessary because Kylo probably knew and understood that what they had was casual. It wouldn’t be his fault if Hux somehow found himself falling into the trap of sentiment. Hux knew better anyway. He had no one to blame but himself if he found himself missing the times when his hands would caress those soft cheeks. Missed running his hand in dark hair that fell through his fingers like the water currently soaking his clothes.

Ren still hasn’t responded and he’s about determined that he’s going to leave him here. He has waited for Ren to come to his senses long enough. If he wants to sit here in the rain that is his prerogative. Hux will go back to the shuttle and dry out while he waits for Ren to get over this foolishness.

He sighs. He is done. He recognizes the stupidity of this sentence but he still thinks it. Because it is his mind and he’s allowed to think whatever he wants and hang any Force users who think they can barge into his thoughts.

But he has waited for Ren— _in many meanings of the word—_ for too long and he is going to become ill because of it this time. He will not wait anymore. He will go back to the shuttle and find some way to dry himself out before Ren returns.  Then when they are back on board the _Finalizer_ and Ren finally begins his training with Snoke, Hux will move on. He will stop wasting his time on a dream that is below his notice anyway. A dream that he was a fool for ever entertaining in the first place.

It serves him right for not listening to himself the first time he’d seen Ren without his mask. Back when there was never any trouble separating ‘Ren’ from ‘Kylo.’

Back when there was no separation because he hadn’t let himself turn into a fool over some inane child.

He’d thought, ‘this man is gorgeous and also more trouble than he’s worth’ and that should have been the end of it.

That would have been the end of it, if not for how much Hux loves dealing with troublesome situations. How much Kylo enjoyed making even the smallest strand of hair fall out of place on Hux’s head.

But he is done.

He turns away and begins striding back to the tree cover, back to his coat that looks mostly dry which is lovely. And he almost doesn’t hear the thud or _sploosh_ that sounds behind him. It isn’t until he hears Ren say “Hux” that he even stops.

And it’s not his name that causes the pause. It is the fact that his name sounded undistorted, not coming through a mask.

He doesn’t turn. He refuses to turn. He decided he was done with this ridiculous man and he will not back down. He will not turn around. He will not look at those big, stupid brown eyes or that idiotic, lovely chin, or that ugly, perfect dark hair.

“Hux.” The voice says behind him, closer now. He doesn’t sound rushed, doesn’t sound angry. He simply says the name as it is.

“Turn around.”

He scoffs. “In what universe do I ever do what you tell me to do, Ren? You do not give me orders.”

There is still no emotion in that voice, but he knows that if he turned around those eyes would tell him everything. That mouth would twist with the unsaid words and he’d translate them easily.

But he isn’t turning around. That would imply that he wants to accept the consequences.

“Do you know I hate how stubborn you are more than anything else in the galaxy?”

He almost smiles. Almost reacts. But this man has been avoiding him for _weeks_. Ignored him when he told him this planet was a bust, and while that isn’t uncommon it is still the last straw.

Ren wants them to be over and Hux is not going to let himself get pulled into a fool’s affair again.

Which is why he is not turning around.

“I am not stubborn, Ren. I am stating facts. You do not give me orders, especially when I already told you this was pointless. I am returning to the shuttle. You can stay out in this deluge all you want, wasting your time on something that was bound to fail. I will not be a part of it. Be back within an hour or I leave without you.”

He should continue moving toward the tree line. He’s nearly there now, but he can’t move. He would blame it on the man behind him, except he can always tell when Ren is using the Force to keep him in place. He is doing no such thing.

“Why won’t you look at me when you’re speaking? I don’t normally consider you rude, _General_.”

And before he can stop himself he is swinging around to glare at the man before him. His hair flies in his face and there are streams of water running down his neck.

Kylo looks back at him.

“That! That is why I have no wish to consort with you! You have become exactly what your master wants from you! You are emotionless and even more of an idiot than you used to be!”

He breathes deeply, not knowing where all this is coming from. He begins advancing toward where Ren stands motionless.

“Starkiller destroyed more than just your plans, you know. _Years_ of work, Ren. Years I worked on that project, just to have it disintegrate under my feet. I have only cared about two things in those years and in one stupid hour all of it was ripped from me. Perhaps it is easy for you to walk away from all this, since Snoke will inevitably take you back. But I’ve lost everything. I will not bounce back as quickly.”

He’s said too much. Halfway through his speech Ren started moving closer. They have stopped mere inches from each other, but he doesn’t know what more he could say. He is not a man who is comfortable with emotions, and this is the closest to an emotional outburst he has ever come.

He feels empty.

Warm breath tickles his nose as Ren begins speaking.

“It was my fault. My fault the traitor and the others escaped. My fault Starkiller was destroyed. Snoke is all that’s left for me.”

He is staring at Hux as if he expects him to punch him. Any other time Hux might oblige.

“Is that all that matters then? Snoke?”

“No. But the only other thing that matters is gone.”

Hux is about to let it go. He has nothing left in him for this argument and he has never felt so drained from a standoff with Kylo. But something about the way he says it, about the way his eyes have been drifting over Hux’s face gives him pause.

“What else matters, Kylo?”

His eyes freeze back onto Hux’s. He can’t seem to find the words he wants. Perhaps he’s as drained as Hux.

But Hux has always been the quicker thinker of the two of them and he thinks he’s starting to figure a few things out.

And when he sees Kylo lean the slightest bit toward him, he knows at least one thing.

There is no hesitation as he puts his fingers into Kylo’s hair, and before he even pulls him in he sees the other man close his eyes in pleasure. But then their mouths are upon each other and he doesn’t have time for higher brain function anymore.

Sensations bombard him. It has been too long since he last allowed himself to think about the closeness he enjoyed with Kylo. The way they moved like one monstrous beast when together like this. Their hands are everywhere, Kylo holding him close as if terrified he will disappear. Hux is simply concerned that they are both going to come back to their senses and this will end.

But that’s a fear he’s always carried, so it barely affects him.

He can’t even feel the water anymore, they’re both so soaked. All he cares about is kissing this man in front of him. Making this man in front of him know that if he _ever_ tries to ignore him again there will be _consequences_.

The chuckle that vibrates through Kylo’s chest tells him that the message was received.

When they finally pull away, it isn’t far. They are still sharing the same air, still looking at each other and catching their breath. But then Kylo says, “I thought you would want nothing to do with me now.” And Hux responds, “I always knew I was the intelligent one in this relationship.”

And then they are surging into another kiss.

They will both become so ill they have to spend many days in the medbay, something that causes despair for everyone involved. And they still haven’t solved the problem of Snoke and Kylo’s training. Hux’s next move is a mystery too.

But right now, in this stupid rainstorm on this stupid planet, they kiss and touch and let the other know this is all that matters. This moment and this connection. This feeling that they will never name, but will know all the same.

Whatever happens, they’ve begun their next steps.

**Author's Note:**

> in case it isn't clear, the fluctuations between "Ren" and "Kylo" are deliberate. i realized during editing that this might not be as obvious to others as it is to me...
> 
> come say hey on [my tumblr](http://fandomfix8.tumblr.com)!


End file.
